![\"Southwestern](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AHi_j0011(56).JPG\" "\\"Southwestern")
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Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary opened its J.W. MacGorman Chapel and Performance Center on Dec. 1, 2011.<\/p>\n
Joyce Marshall<\/p>\n
Star-Telegram\/Joyce Marshall<\/p>\n
A lawsuit filed against the former president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary was settled days before it was scheduled to go to trial, according to court records.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed in 2019 by a female former student, alleged that past seminary president Paige Patterson and the institution defamed her after she reported she had been sexually assaulted multiple times.<\/a><\/p>\n The student, who filed the lawsuit under the pseudonym Jane Roe, alleged that she met her rapist in 2014 while he was employed as a plumber on campus. The fellow student took an \u201cimmediate interest\u201d in Roe and began to \u201cpursue her relentlessly,\u201d including leaving notes on her car, according to the initial suit.<\/p>\n On several occasions, Roe turned down invitations to go on a date with the man, according to the suit.<\/p>\n Roe said she was first raped when she fell asleep on a lawn chair at a campus barbecue in October 2014, the Star-Telegram previously reported. She awoke to the fellow student assaulting her while armed with a gun.<\/p>\n The fellow student would later threaten murder or suicide if Roe didn\u2019t \u201cstay with\u201d him, and raped her again in April 2015 after forcing his way into her home. Roe reported the rapes to Patterson in August 2015, and Patterson told her he was \u201ctoo busy\u201d<\/a> to deal with the report.<\/p>\n Patterson was later fired outright<\/a> for his handling of the situation, the Star-Telegram previously reported.<\/p>\n The lawsuit was \u201camicably resolved,\u201d Roe\u2019s attorney Sheila Haddock told the Dallas Morning News.<\/p>\n In a statement, officials with the seminary denied the allegations in the initial lawsuit and said they were \u201cgrateful\u201d that the matter was resolved.<\/p>\n \u201cSouthwestern Seminary is grateful that this matter has been amicably resolved for all involved. The Seminary has consistently denied any liability or wrongdoing, and the rulings in the case are a matter of public record,\u201d said James Smith, the seminary\u2019s vice president for communications. \u201cWe are thankful to put this chapter behind us and to remain focused on our mission.\u201d<\/p>\n Attorneys for Patterson did not respond to requests for comment Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n